"Secretary Rumsfeld bears direct and ultimate responsibility for this descent into horror by personally authorizing unlawful interrogation techniques and by abdicating his legal duty to stop torture," said Lucas Guttentag, lead counsel in the case.

In direct contradiction to Rumsfeld's statements of May 2004, the Pentagon has responded to the case, denying that it had "approved of, sanctioned, or condoned as a matter of policy detainee abuse."

"No policies or procedures approved by the secretary of Defense were intended as, or could conceivably have been interpreted as, a policy of abuse, or as condoning abuse."

So much for accepting responsibility, not that the Bush administration would ever admit to any kind of impropriety.

Poor W. I'll bet he's pounding his head against a wall. After all, as governor of Texas, he ordered the executions of lots of people, included the retarded, as well as executing at least four youths aged 17.

America: land of the free, home of the brave...except when it comes to accountability and ethics of our elected officials.